Maureen Casey with JP Morgan Chase and Company, and the Rand Corporation's Dr. Margaret Harrell, join host Derrick Dortch to talk about a new report that looks at lessons learned from a program that helps veterans find jobs in private sector.
December 19, 2014

Budget cuts are forcing the IRS to impose a hiring freeze, except for emergencies, and eliminate almost all overtime. Commissioner John Koskinen said the cuts could also delay tax refunds, reduce taxpayer services and hurt enforcement efforts.

The Military Spouse Employment Partnership's goal is simple. They want to eliminate one of military families' biggest problems: finding employment for the spouse of the service member. Because of frequent relocation, military spouses often face high unemployment rates and a significant wage gap in the jobs they do have. Through the initiative known as Joining Forces, 38 new organizations joined the Employment Partnership program earlier this month. Eddy Mentzer is the Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program manager. On the Federal Drive, he gave Tom Temin an update on the program and the companies involved.

Federal News Radio polled its readers on how they felt about the President's proposed reforms to the Senior Executive Service. Many were "indifferent," but others said the reforms didn't go far enough.

Four years after a push from the President, the federal government is hiring employees with disabilities at a rate that's higher than it's been in decades, according to a new report from the Office of Personnel Management.

In this week's "Inside the DoD Reporter's Notebook," the Pentagon is making some adjustments to the role of its chief information officer; DoD awards contracts for its first large-scale financial audit; the Pentagon's acquisition chief says a few high-profile "lowest-price technically acceptable" cases have blown the whole thing out of proportion and Jessica Wright, who's served as the undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness since January 2013, announced that she'll be retiring at the end of March.

After at least two leading candidates took their names out of contention for Defense Secretary, the President turned to Ashton Carter, a former deputy secretary. Carter first worked as a civilian analyst in the 1970s, and holds degrees in physics and medieval history. He held policy positions in both the Clinton and Obama adminsitrations. What can the military expect from a Secretary Carter? Former Senator Jim Talent, now a senior fellow and director of the National Security 2020 Project at the American Enterprise Institute, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss.

The Education Department offers a series of programs to improve employee engagement and leadership training. Quay Crowner, Education's acting deputy chief administration officer and HR director, said there is an increased emphasis across the agency to better take care of the employees.

One of the newest hires at your agency could be someone that hasn't had a job in a long time. The Office of Personnel Management is helping agencies find and recruit people who haven't had a job in a while to help the long-term unemployment rate. Jim Hagy is a director for Deloitte's Department of Defense Human Capital practice. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he offered some other human capital management strategies.

In a new report on reducing the federal deficit, the Congressional Budget Office suggests that cutting 70,000 government jobs over the next decade and changing the math used for civilian and military pensions could save $100 billion.

The U.S. Digital Service team is working with VA and other agencies to hire and train employees to apply the agile development approach to projects. Mikey Dickerson, USDS director, said the goal is two-fold: to create lasting agile development capacity in agencies and to ensure agencies think about citizens' needs first and foremost.

Maureen Casey with JP Morgan Chase and Company, and the Rand Corporation's Dr. Margaret Harrell, join host Derrick Dortch to talk about a new report that looks at lessons learned from a program that helps veterans find jobs in private sector.
November 21, 2014 (Encore presentation November 28, 2014)

Two Treasury agencies have managed to make big gains in hiring veterans. In 2014, half of new hires at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the U.S. Mint were veterans. Now, veterans make up about one-third of employees at each of the two agencies. How'd they do it? Rosie Rios, Treasurer of the United States, shared details with Tom Temin on the Federal Drive.